“Art investment funds represent something of a revolution in the relationship between art and commerce. A dozen art-only investment funds are now trying to raise money from investors looking to cash in on the art market’s current boom. Last year, Picasso’s ‘Boy with a Pipe,’ which had been sold in 1950 for thirty thousand dollars, went at auction for a hundred and four million, while a Canaletto that had fetched two hundred and eighty thousand pounds in 1973 sold for more than eleven million pounds three decades later. Next to such numbers, those shares of Wal-Mart that haven’t budged in five years start to look pretty dull.”
Blog
Stockhausen – Out Of This World?
Composer Karlheinz Stockhausen has ha an enormous influence on contemporary music. Personally, he’s enigmatic: “This 77-year-old musical pioneer has claimed that he comes not from Burg Mödrath, near Cologne (listed as his birthplace on his biography), but rather from a planet orbiting the star Sirius, and that he was put on earth to give voice to a cosmic music that will change the world. He is, to put it mildly, a one-off.”
Stirrings At Canada’s Third Largest Dance Company
Alberta Ballet has “survived an extremely difficult year characterized by low staff morale, high-profile board resignations and financial instability. However, its artistic director – with the solid backing of a brand-new board – says he is ready to turn his troupe into one of Canada’s best.”
Students Point To Truth About The Publishing Business
Students at a Canadian college were given an assignment – develop a publishing business. “So what did these aspiring publishers, mostly in their 20s with a few senior faces among them, tell us about publishing? Well, the first inescapable fact was that not a single one of those five proposed publishing houses planned to publish fiction. No novels, short stories and definitely, as Scott Griffin, founder of the world’s most lucrative poetry prize pointed out, no poetry.”
Pinter – No Respect At Home
Playwright Harold Pinter’s Nobel Prize confirms his international stature as a great writer. “In Britain Pinter is ritually described as an ‘angry old man’. In the world at large he is seen as a great writer and champion of the oppressed. The gulf between the understanding and appreciation of Pinter at home and abroad is astonishing. Travel to virtually any country in the world and you will find a Pinter play in production.”
Bartoli – Diva Outside The Mainstream?
Cecilia Bartoli has made a specialty of singing repertoire off the beaten path. “She is not diva-ish in the old-fashioned sense – she doesn’t intimidate and, by all accounts, is an easy-going colleague when part of an opera cast. Her widely quoted falling out with Jonathan Miller at the Met in 1996 during a production of The Marriage of Figaro was untypical: in any case, she was standing up for a musical principle, not refusing a directorial command. She is tough, demanding, but no termagant. Yet there remain questions about the trajectory of her career…”
Booker Sponsor Under Investigation
The Booker Prize hasn’t had a good week. “Now comes news that that a division of the prize sponsors, the Man Group, is under investigation in the US by the Securities and Exchange Commission. After the collapse of the Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management hedge fund, its receiver has alleged that a senior employee at the Man Financial brokerage business – with whom PAAM worked – helped to hide $175m. of losses from investors.”
Who Is The Real JT LeRoy?
The elusive author’s behavior makes many question who he is or if he really exists. “For all its abuse and kinky sex, the JT story is really just another heartwarming rags-to-riches tale for the punk generation. But what if America isn’t really the sort of place where a street urchin can charm his way to the top, through diligence and talent; what if instead it’s the sort of place where heartwarming stories of abused children who triumph through adversity are made up and marketed?”
What Made The National Book Awards Finals
Historical novels dominate this year’s nominees. “In contrast to last year, when unknown names dominated the list, several other recognized and respected authors were also included.”
US Against The World On UNESCO Initiative
The United States is opposing a major new UNESCO convention on cultural diversity. “The convention’s supporters argue that the treaty will protect and promote cultural diversity in the face of cultural globalization, but the United States believes it is intended to restrict exports of American audiovisual products, particularly Hollywood movies and television programs.”